Friday August 18, 2017

Patio furniture and accessories don’t have to be expensive, and these crafty DIYs will keep things interesting. Outdoor decor is somewhat of an enigma. We’ve spent years building up a collection of furniture and accessories for the interior of the house, but sometimes our instincts and wallets don’t stand up to the challenge of decorating an outdoor room. It’s time to go back to basics. First-time homeowners often live a few years with half-empty rooms until they can cobble together a budget for furniture. Inherited and leftover pieces often inhabit a new home’s interior spaces. Adopting and transforming the same kinds of pieces will work just as well outdoors as it did indoors all those years ago.

Today’s new homeowners are known to be quite clever in their sense of style, creating cohesive rooms with less-than-desirable stuff. Amazing examples of the modern DIY trend of “mass-to-treasure” can be found on sites like Ikea Hackers and Instructables. Any project from transforming bed frames into a fence to a making a table and bench from pallet wood can be found online. Creating your own fabulous DIY piece of outdoor decor is fun and easy. It just takes a little imagination and effort.

An easy start is cutting fabric shower curtains into no-sew cushion covers. Shower curtain fabric comes in a variety of patterns and colors. Make sure to use the fabric curtains, not the plastic liners, for your project.

Inexpensive flower pots can be bonded on top of each other and topped with a rounded and sealed piece of plywood to make end-tables, or the top pot can be filled with soil and used as a planter. Drill a large hole in the center of the plywood top and you can grow a living centerpiece up through it.

Necessary receptacles for trash tend to be overlooked as design elements. The big, bumbling curb cans are OK to use in a pinch, but another solution is needed for the patio. No-one wants to lounge next to a large garbage bin. A little more subtlety works well. Wicker hampers can be lined with bags and set around the patio set. They are beautiful, lidded, washable, and are designed to be receptacles. Empty them often. Slip them under the chairs or the table when you bring out the rain tarps.

Much like a first home a patio doesn’t need much to get it to working order. Also, the standards for your outdoor room don’t have to match the levels you keep for your indoor decor. Start with basic chairs (beach chairs will do!), then a table, and move up from there. In no time you’ll have an eclectic and hip space that you’ll want to share.